Historical
background of Casaprota:
Casaprota and the Sabina -Its vivid nature has been moulded by an ancient
culture, hills pierced by the sun and coloured by the seasons, as well as
tastes and flavours that become Italy's gastronomic tradition: surprise
coming from a land which has stayed loyal to itself, as have the friendly
people living there.
The first traces of Casaprota date back to the Roman period as testified
by the remains of country villas and inscriptions. It couldn't be otherwise:
it is through the story of the legendary "Rape of the Sabines" that the
Sabina area has gone down in the history of Rome. There are close links
between Rome and the Sabina area because of the Kings of Rome: Numa Pompilius
and Anco Marzio were Sabines as well as Tito Tazio who reigned
together with Romulus. The history of the Sabina area mingled with that
of Rome until the coming of the Longobards, who separated the destiny of
the Dukedom of Spoleto from that of Rome, left to the Eastern Roman Empire.
The name "Casa Perotae", presumably the ancient name of the small
town belonging to the Duke of Spoleto Hildebrand, first appeared in 776.
Subsequently it was acquired by the Abbey
of Farfa as it neighbouring areas. As a matter of fact, the history
of the Sabina area in the Middle Ages was strongly influenced by the Abbey
of Farfa, one of the most powerful abbey of central Italy. Spared by the
Goths, destroyed by the Longobards, at its apogee under the rule of the
Franks during Charles the Great's reign, the Abbey of Farfa was the guiding
light for faith, arts and civilization. In the first decades of the 10th
century the caste was founded but subsequently there were no traces of it
until the pontificate of Celestine III, when a dispute apparently arose
between the De Romania's the most powerful noble family in the Sabina area,
and the faction of the Camponeschi's. Casaprota passed from the Brancaleoni's,
a branch of the dynasty of the De Romania's, to the Orsini's until 1604,
when the castle because part of the territory subject to the rule of the
Sabina area. After the reorganization of the Church State, Casaprota was
annexed to mompeo in the district of Poggio Mirteto under the rule of Farfa.
In 1853 Casaprota became an autonomous town.
Nowadays its territory, which includes the marvelous hamlet Collelungo,
is situated between the via Salaria, the valley of the river Farfa and the
Sabini mountains. Its social and economic life has been deeply marked by
its history which will play an important role in the 3rd Millennium as well.